Survivors of last major Islamic State battle in Iraq beg for food

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) – On a scorching August afternoon, an angry crowd besieged a mini-truck loaded with meat of two slaughtered cows amidst the ruins of what was the last Islamic State (IS) bastion in Mosul.

Citizens gather around a car that distribute meat for the poor families in the old city of Mosul, Iraq August 22, 2018. Picture taken August 22, 2018. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily

In a desperate scramble, they grabbed beef from a man standing in the open back of the truck and, after it pulled away, some stayed on to descend on the next one to arrive.

Part of an annual ritual of Eid al-Adha celebrations, the deliveries did little to satisfy people living in the rubble of Mosul’s Old City more than a year after IS was ousted in a final battle reduced many inhabitants to homeless beggars.